3 Ways to Make Sulfur Dioxide Gas

In this video, I'll be demonstrating three methods to produce sulfur dioxide gas. Sulfur dioxide, while undesirable on its own due to its toxicity and environmental impact, serves as a crucial precursor for various chemical processes, including the production of sulfuric acid. These methods have been showcased in previous videos, but I've compiled them here for easy reference.

Method 1: Burning Sulfur
The most cost-effective approach involves burning sulfur. Elemental sulfur, often used in gardening and pest control, is readily available. By burning it and capturing the resulting sulfur dioxide, we can utilize it for various reactions. A gas capture setup is essential, comprising a metal funnel over the burning sulfur, connected to a coil of copper tubing to cool the gas, and finally linked to a reaction flask using plastic tubing. Vacuum assistance is used to pull the gas into the apparatus, eliminating the need for a sealed combustion chamber.

Method 2: Sulfuric Acid Decomposition
This method involves adding elemental sulfur to concentrated sulfuric acid within a sealed distillation setup. The sulfuric acid decomposes the sulfur to produce sulfur dioxide and water. While this approach yields relatively pure sulfur dioxide, it is slow and inefficient for amateur chemists. Moreover, the risk of dealing with boiling hot sulfuric acid makes it impractical for most.

Method 3: Sodium Metabisulfite Acidification
The most convenient yet costly method involves sodium metabisulfite and hydrochloric acid. A generator is set up with water, sodium metabisulfite, and hydrochloric acid. Upon opening a valve, the hydrochloric acid reacts with the sodium metabisulfite to instantly produce sulfur dioxide gas. This method offers convenience, immediate gas production, and purity, making it preferable for many applications. Sodium metabisulfite, found online and used in food preservation, is readily available for purchase.

In summary, these three methods provide options for generating sulfur dioxide gas, each with its advantages and drawbacks. The choice of method depends on factors like cost, convenience, purity, and safety considerations for specific applications.

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[NurdRage]

Granted, it's a simple video, but I'm trying some strange stuff with sulfur dioxide and if it works out I'll make a cool video with it.

[wolpumba]

*Introduction*
- 0:15: Intro to the video, discussing the purpose of making sulfur dioxide.
- 0:31: Uses of sulfur dioxide by amateur chemists.

*Method 1: Burning Sulfur*
- 1:00: Introduction of the first method.
- 1:12: Uses elemental sulfur for burning.
- 1:34: Gas capture setup details.
- 2:20: Uses a vacuum for gas capture.
- 3:15: Warning about placing the vacuum pump in a safe area.

*Method 2: Sulfuric Acid Decomposition*
- 3:53: Introduction of the second method.
- 4:10: Details of the sealed distillation setup.
- 5:05: Challenges in this method related to sulfuric acid.
- 5:38: Advantage of purity in this method.

*Method 3: Sodium Metabisulfite Acidification*
- 6:07: Introduction of the third method.
- 6:19: Ingredients for this method.
- 6:58: Convenience and cost considerations.

*Closing*
- 7:48: Summary of all three methods.
- 7:51: Thanking the audience and mentioning Patreon support.


*Method 1: Burning Sulfur*
*Positive Points:*
1. Cost-Effective: This method is the cheapest and uses readily available elemental sulfur.
2. Simple Setup: Requires basic apparatus like a metal funnel and copper tubing.

*Negative Points:*
1. Safety Concerns: Direct exposure to sulfur dioxide could be hazardous without proper ventilation.
2. Complexity: Needs a gas capture setup and vacuum assistance, which may make the process cumbersome for some.

*Method 2: Sulfuric Acid Decomposition*
*Positive Points:*
1. Purity: Produces relatively pure sulfur dioxide gas.
2. No Vacuum Needed: This method does not require a vacuum pump.

*Negative Points:*
1. Safety Hazards: Involves boiling hot sulfuric acid, posing significant risk.
2. Inefficiency: Slow and consumes valuable sulfuric acid, making it less appealing for amateur chemists.

*Method 3: Sodium Metabisulfite Acidification*
*Positive Points:*
1. Convenience: Instantaneous production of sulfur dioxide upon adding hydrochloric acid.
2. Purity and Temperature: Produces room-temperature and relatively pure gas.

*Negative Points:*
1. Cost: Sodium metabisulfite and hydrochloric acid can be expensive.
2. Specific Equipment: Requires specialized items like a gas adapter and a pressure-equalized dripping funnel.

[petevenuti]

This brings back memories... Or nightmare...
When I was a kid I tried making my own concentrated sulphuric acid with the sulfur burning method, a pound of powdered sulphur, melted in a coffee can, being blasted with a propane torch, i didn't have enough copper tubing so used some vinyl, the asperator was held together with tape, not enough vacuum, the vinyl melted, the stand I had the coffee can on collapsed, everything was burning, in an unventilated basement, I barely made it out alive, lucky I didn't burn the house down. I'll never forget struggling to breathe as I collapsed in the backyard with my bronchial tubes nearly completely swollen shut unable to do anything !
Every bit of silver in the house was damaged, some to the point of pitting.
When my parents felt it was safe to come back home a week later, first thing my mom did was toss my chemistry set out.
I was about 11, give or take a year... (Tween years)

[kieranodea]

NurdRage please keep posting we've missed you !

[berto]

I liked it and would enjoy more informative videos about lab equipment and procedures.

[djdrack]

Have you considered looking into the DMS/DMSO process and the different ways SO2 can be produced from organosulfurs and reacted with them (IE via to form other useful compounds?
Reading into it recently myself I find it an interesting set of ways to use these waste products to produce more useful compounds.

[JustAnotherAlchemist]

I'm interested in methods of turning calcium sulfate minerals (Gypsum, plaster of paris, etc.) into sulfuric acid via evolution of sulfur dioxide. I've become interested in this for SHtF/survivalist scenarios; sulfate minerals are incredibly common the world over, where as elemental sulfur is comparably rare. My understanding is that merely mixing such feed stock with high silica minerals (shale, mud stone) and getting it hot enough achieves the goal. I'd be interested in a NurdRage take on the process.

[mabs]

Cool gonna follow this tutorial and leave the URL to this video on a note nearby just in case.

[Zendukai]

When you said burning sulphur for pests... yeah, some of the guys here take home some sulphur and burn it in a pot in the shed, no more spiders lol. Don't do too much, things might get rusty...

[Zendukai]

Great video Nurdrage! Thanks, in our smelting process, they're using diesel to cook the concentrates, this is producing a nox gas in the sulphuric acid. Could you some how explain how a company who treats a sulphuric acid which contains nox? This gas is produced when we dilute the acid, which I do when regenerating a Cation unit (part of the process to make demin water to recharge the resins) I know nox is pretty bad, we do have gas monitors for it as we can't smell it. Thanks again for your videos.

[lrmackmcbride]

Metabisulfite method for small quantities of high purity. Burning method for large quantities. A pair of good videos would be making the vanadium catalyst and then making sulfur trioxide. Key step is purifying the burning sulfur dioxide to remove water and sulfur and sulfuric acid which damage the catalyst.

Making sulfuric acid from sulfur trioxide is also non-trivial. The first of two methods I have tried are dissolving in concentrated sulfuric acid to make fuming acid then diluting.

The second is putting the sulfur trioxide in a closed setup with an appropriate amount of water in two cups. Everything gets coated with sulfuric acid, but you get 98% acid where you had sulfur trioxide. The cheapest way to set this up is a flask with a vacuum adapter and stopper. Use ptfe tubing to attach the two pairs. Since it takes a long time dedicated glassware is ideal. Some gas line tubing has ptfe core which is available at auto parts stores for reasonsble prices.

If you have a distillation set up without a condensor you can use that. It takes a bit but it works and everything is contained. But it will be out of use while this is happening.

[garrysekelli]

I woke up this morning wondering how to generate sulphur dioxide gas. Was pondering if eating several plates of beans would do the job.

[ZoonCrypticon]

Could you use platinum to make sulfur trioxide now that you have made SO2 ?

[sciencefusion]

First

Watching your videos since I was a school student

[SamaelTerrefi]

Yeaaaah now we we can make sulfuric acid

[joshrempel]

Pretty sure you can substitute with Potassium Metabisulfate, getting potassium chloride as your bi-product instead. I find K2S2O5 is easier to find than Na2S2O5. Potassium Metabisulfate is sold as a beer additive at Canadian Superstores. Muriatic acid at Home Hardware.

[kreature]

Sodium Metabisulfite vs Potassium Metabisulfite?
I often use the latter in brewing (Campden powder/tablets).

[PhillipChalabi]

NerdRage posts a video, I click simple as that.

[djdrack]

Out of curiosity. What is your fume hood setup, and what do you have for a gas mask if you wear one?
Its hard to get ahold of good quality full-size hoods w/ sides/etc due to size and transport. So curious if you have a more DIY setup.

[tokajileo]

2H2S+SO2=2H2O+3S. in gas phase it is nice reaction one can see formation of yellow sulphur 'smoke'. I wonder what happens when you mix liquid SO2 and liquid H2S .